The much sought after, but no longer available "Cat's Eye" grille is a grille shell that fits over your stock 1995-2005 Astro grille and composite headlight and turn signal lenses. You've probably seen pictures of these (see below for examples). They give our vans a mean, aggressive look from the front. It also makes your Astro look a bit different than everyone elses' Astro. Looks great on its own, or with a full body kit. People will sure see you coming down the road! It also gives a slightly more modern look, similar to the squinty look on the current Chevy Express and GMC Savannah full size vans. However, these "cat eye" grills are almost impossible to get! It seems they are no longer manufactured and extremely difficult to find today. Maybe the company went out of business or discontinued the cat's eye grille. I was fortunate enough to come across a brand new, never installed "cat's eye" grille.
But wait, there might be a way to still get one!
I was thinking of getting someone to make a mold for a "cat's eye" grille and manufacture them using my grille and my van as a sample. Of course, it wouldn't be identical to the one I have for a couple of reasons. First, it could be a copyright infringement if it's 100% identical. Secondly, I don't like how this grille is so "chunky" - it really sticks forward a lot and is kind of angular. I would prefer something a bit flatter that didn't stick out as far.
Which vans does it fit?
This is for the 1995-2005 Astro front end with the composite headlights and the chrome bar that runs the entire width (and separates the headlights and turn signals). It does not fit vans with the sealed beam headlights or the Safari with the "wide mouth" inset grille and headlights that are stacked directly above the signal lights with no chrome bar. However, a Safari owner could use junkyard parts to switch over to the Astro front end. The Chevy bowtie logo would not be visible - it would be covered by the cat's eye grille shell.
What's Included?
There is no grille insert - this is just the "shell" which sits on top of your existing grille and looks like it uses existing bolts to hold the top and double sided tape to hold the middle and bottom, much like aftermarket side skirts are attached. Alternately, you could order a billet grille insert instead of using your factory grille or custom make your own from mesh, etc. The cat's eye grille shell would need to be painted either black or the body color of your van. Or cover it with simulated carbon fiber vinyl. I'm not sure what material it would be made of. The cat's eye grille shell I have is hard, brittle plastic. I would hope that the new version would be fiberglass or polyurethane. I'll inquire about that.
What's the availability and price?
So far I have only made initial inquiries about making a mold for a cat's eye grille using my own cat's eye grille as a starting point and my 2005 Astro to test fit it on. To make it cost effective, I think I would need about 20 or more people to buy a grille (the more the better, it will help keep costs down). Once I have an idea on how many people would be genuinely interested in this, I can get more accurate pricing.
So, let me know if there's enough interest in this. It won't be cheap, but it (hopefully) won't be expensive either. I believe the price would be similar to any other aftermarket body kit pieces out there, only there's nothing like this currently available. Even a billet grille insert costs about $150. If enough people are serious about it, and are OK with the price (once it's determined) I would take a deposit or full payment up front by PayPal and get the grille shells manufactured and shipped out.
I'm sure lots of people will say "yes I'm interested" but ask yourself, are you REALLY interested in this? Are you able and willing to put up real money for this? (probably a few hundred dollars). I'll try my best to keep the price in line with what people expect to pay for body kit parts. If it turns out to be outrageously expensive, or there's not enough interest, I'll scrap this idea. Let me know if you would be interested and if possible, what you would be willing to pay. No obligation. Don't worry, this won't commit you to buy anything - just trying to gauge how feasible this would be.
Thanks!
